Fudging Because of Fudge

I had to fudge a bit on my diet over the weekend. I did real good about not eating pie on Thanksgiving Day but . . the fudge! It seems to be one of the first candies I make during the Christmas season. At least I’m only drinking a few Dr. Peppers. I have 2 or 3 of them a week. I am not a big chocolate fan but I love the fudge my mom always made. The best part was that little ball in the ice water. I could eat the entire pan of fudge, one gooey, cold ball at a time!

Mom always had a small platter that she would butter and pour the fudge into. She could get hers to pour out real thin and when she cut it, it would just melt in your mouth. Mom uses the Hershey’s recipe that is sometimes on the Hershey’s cocoa can but is here also. I usually put a few chopped pecans in it but since we had just bought cashews, I added those this time.

This plate of fudge didn’t last long. Some of it went back to school with Chad . . too much of it was consumed by me. The holidays are not a great time to try to lose weight!

What’s your favorite holiday candy?

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My grandmother’s divinity is probably my all time favorite Christmas candy. My mother has tried to make it many times over the years and it never seems to turn out right. Grandma’s dividingy was like eating fluffy sugar, but it tasted a lot better than just sugar. A close second would be chocolate covered cherries. I get one box of those at Christmas, otherwise I’d gain 50 lbs from those alone!

Fudge is one of my all time favorite Christmas treats. I’ve never been able to make it come out right, I will give your recipe a try. When I worked at the bank one of my elderly customers would bring in the best fudge, she would never give us her recipe cause she said “this is the one thing I can do to pay you back for being nice and I don’t want you doing it for yourself”…how sweet was that…

Ohhhhhhh Fudge! Oh how I love fudge!!! My Great Uncle Phil created a recipe based on the marshmallow creme recipe that is so rich and creamy and delicious. I will not make any! I’m not going to, no I am not. But oh how I love fudge!!!

I have to say fudge is one of my favorite treats too. I have never been able to master the candy thing though. Unlike a lot of folks, my favorite holiday treat is fruit cake. I absolutely love good fruitcake. My Mom used to make the best. Ryan and I were talking about that the other day. I brought home a small Claxton fruit cake the other day (someone was selling it as a fundraiser) and Ryan and I both remarked how much like Mom’s it was. We both like fruitcake and the only time we can get it is Christmas. I have Mom’s recipe but I’ve never made it. Maybe I should this year.

I make fudge but I also love divinity. Making divinity in a humid climate is too tricky for me, I gave up years ago. I love to have a piece or two when I go north. My family has another traditional candy that I no longer make; Boston Cream. None of my kids liked it so my husband and I had to eat the whole batch; it fills a bread loaf pan. My sister still makes it so I love to go to Denver near Christmas and get a piece or two. (I never thought to make a half or quarter batch.)

I make the fudge on the back of the Eagle Brank milk can. Chocolate chips, eagle brand milk and vanilla. It couldn’t be easier and it always turns out creamy and good. I add nuts to mine and make the kids without nuts.

My mom’s fudge was always my favorite. As I got older and she’d ask me what I wanted for Christmas, I’d say “Some of your fudge. I prefer the chocolate, but wouldn’t turn down the peanut butter.” Her chocolate was never JUST chocolate, it was a chocolate peanut butter mix. I’ve been meaning to try to make it for a few years now, but fear that I couldn’t do it (and ultimately HER) justice. I miss her. She passed away June 21, 2006 — it was the Summer Solstice, and truly the longest day of the year … perhaps the longest day of my life.

Divinity. That’s pure heaven to me!! The stuff they call divinity in the stores, just isn’t the same—at all!!
Mama didn’t make it, my Uncle Marvin was the divinity expert in our family. He told me 2 years ago that he quit making it years ago, but he’d make me a batch if Don killed a deer and shared some venison sausage with him. So I need to call him today to see if the offer still stands, ‘cuz Don’s killed 3 this year and most of it was processed into sausage. If so, this girl is going to be so, so happy this Christmas!! Eve

I was definitely brought up on the real kind that is the cooked, Hershey’s recipe kind of fudge and do not make or care for the marshmellow fudge. Why mess with perfection when fudge should be sugar, chocolate, vanilla and butter and simply delicious.

The best sweet we have at Christmas is Marty’s cookies which are Ritz Crackers spread with peanut butter and the “sandwiches” are then dipped in melted chocolate Almond Bark. They do not last long around here and everyone who tries them wants the recipe.

But are you trying to “lose weight” or are you trying to change your lifestyle and eating choices? One is usually temporary. The other more permanent. You are doing good with your Dr. Pepper. You should be proud of that. And no pie on Thanksgiving? Man, I had two pieces! So really, it’s more about making good lifestyle choices.

I make 2 step fudge. A bag of chocolate chips, melted. Add a can of frosting. Pour into a pan and let it set up in the fridge. 😀

Divinity with black walnuts or fudge with peanut butter chips swirled through. In recent years I don’t make any candy for the holidays unless the sons are going to be “home” and that only happens every four or five years.

Fudge is tops on my list too. I tell myself I’m making it for gifts, but way too much of it ends up in my mouth!! This year, I don’t think I’m going to make any. I’m on Weight Watcher’s, trying to lose some weight, and I just don’t need the temptation! In fact, the only Christmas goodies I’m making this year are sugar cookies, because my family doesn’t think it’s Christmas without them.

We use to make the Peanut butter Balls and Marshmallow Fudge when my children were growing up. My brother made the Fudge when I was a teenager. Now I like to make Chocolate Truffles for my goodies plates and Rocky road with the leftover melty chocolate. My mom made Divinity and Salt water Taffy and chocolate cherries, but I never have mastered those recipes.

Your comment about the fudge brings back fond childhood memories. At our house my brother (who was oldest) was the fudge maker using the Hershey’s recipe. The rest of us (4) could only watch him. I remember the testing for doneness in cold water. And he got to dole out the candy when it cooled. He probably got to eat more than the rest of us but we didn’t seem to notice. Any candy was a huge treat back in those days.

What wonderful memories these Christmas candies make me think of. But at last I’m one of the many who should avoid all that sweets.Mother always made all kinds of candies and as a kid I always enjoyed them. She quit making Them all about 20 years ago . Her and Dad have been gone 3 years now and the families Christmas get to gathers aren’t the same. I would like to make the sweets but since my family or I don’t need them guess I’ll just think of the memories instead.

Just love good dark chocolate fudge with walnuts, but never make it. The local cafe used to have some pre-wrapped squares of it on the counter for $.50 a piece. About four little bites worth & I’d sometimes buy one little square. Sure wish I could find some again. Don’t even remember the brand name now but it sure was good.

When I was little my Mom made some sort of candy involving brown sugar, cream, butter & maybe burnt sugar flavoring. I don’t know what it was called & I’ve never found a recipe that sounded right. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be some sort of white fudge or if it was failed caramels, I just remember it being very tasty. Just one of those things that’s gone forever but the memory niggles at you.

Sounds like you’re looking for Penuche (pen-ooh-chee). I had some in Maine once that I never could duplicate. Fabulous stuff if you can find a good recipe or, even better, someone who has mastered making it.

Am I the only one besides June who LOVES fruitcake? Being a Cajun girl, I know my favorite Christmas treat ought to be pralines (pronounced “praw-leens”, not “pray-leens” — it makes me crazy when this word is mispronounced). My grandmother, who died in 2002, made the best fruitcake. I still have part of the last fruitcake she sent me. My mom and I used to take it out of the freezer every Christmas eve and have a piece. Our favorite part was the figs that came straight from my grandmother’s tree. My husband and kids refused to touch it,which was fine with us. My mom died in August, 2009. Last Christmas eve when I was getting the fruitcake out of the freezer I found another whole, uncut fruitcake — a Christmas miracle! I’m convinced it was sent by my mother to ensure that I had my Christmas eve fruitcake for years to come.

I prefer cookies – as kid, I always made the Tollhouse recipe, but I used to make a giant cookie for Dad and that was before you saw the giant cookies in the mall stores.

Then, I started with “Lizzies”, which I found in a cookbook. I tried them once because of the name, but kept making them because they are so good! They are fruitcake cookies – the same dried fruit, complete with raisins soaked in a good bourbon, and the batter is spicy and good. I have small tins so it would be interesting to try making a small loaf for shipping to my sister.

One? Couldn’t pick just one favorite Christmas treat. I have fond memories of the old fashioned recipe fudge that my grandma would mail out to the west coast to us from her home in the midwest. This was back in the 40’s when shipping was slow and the fudge would be a bit dry, but oh so good, by the time it got to us. A bit grainy, but so yummy, both the chocolate and the peanut butter. As an adult living in the south, I discovered “prawleens.” Out of this world! Laugh if you want, but I love a good fruitcake. Tea with a wedge of fruitcake is a delightful winter afternoon treat. In recent years, I have discovered a great recipe for pecan pie with just a bit of choclate in it. This has become a new Christmas dinner tradition for us. The first year that I made it, the guests raved so vociferously about it that I asked them all to autograph my recipe page which now serves as a reminder of a special time with friends and family. Ah, the foods of Christmas –too bad they are packed with calories and artery clogging gunk. I keep telling myself they are yukky, but I haven’t convinced me yet.

Fruitcake, definitely. My SIL’s grandma always made an extra one for me. I would put half of it in the freezer and then I could have a piece whenever I wanted a treat. Sadly grandma isn’t with us anymore so I buy mine now. Maybe I should learn to make it.

I made fudge Thanksgiving afternoon. I added pecans–can’t make fudge without pecans!! It was supposed to rain later Thanksgiving night and my son and his family were visiting from Houston so I had to take advantage of a lower humidity window of time. It turned out perfectly which doesn’t always happen. Mine looks a lot like yours. I also love divinity. I have my mother recipe where you boil it until it makes a soft ball when dropped in water (add half) then boil the rest until it makes a cracking sound. This is my daughter’s favorite but since she lives here I can make that any time.

I had forgotten all about this – my mom used to make it, too, and when I was little the big treat was to eat the little ball of fudge right from the cold water — yuumm!
I used to make this too, with my mom’s ( probably the Hershey one ) recipe, but not in years!
Judy, if Dr Pepper is your “junkie monkey” then mine is Starbucks! until I saw just how many calories are in a Peppermint Mocha — ouch!
Beth in Dallas

divinity is delicious, my mom make them every year for us. I tried once and burned up my mixer. Don’t make it anymore but maybe this year for mom. I think I will make up a box of goodies for my dad like my mom did.

we make “haystacks” Chocolate almond bark, dark semisweet baking chocolate melted. Add to corn flakes, coconut, and chopped pecans. Stir until all it well coated, then as it slightly cools form small haystacks on waxed paper.

Frosted sour cream sugar cookies

Soft popcorn balls

Oh, we have lots of special recipes for Christmas!

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Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know more about me, Judy Laquidara, than you want to know?My husband, Vince, and I live on a little hobby farm with a few chickens, a small orchard and a garden. Besides quilting, hobbies include knitting, cooking, gardening, tending the chickens and reading. Read More…

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